Telling the human story of Pompeii and Herculaneum

Vanessa Baldwin, exhibition project curator, British Museum

Many of the objects on display in the exhibition Life and death in Pompeii and Herculaneum, are not artefacts, they are people’s possessions. The people living in these two cities saw them and used them every day; they commissioned them or bought them for each other, and for themselves.

After years of researching, planning, designing and building, the exhibition is now open and it’s all about the people – people going through their daily lives with no idea of what was coming; the volcanic eruption in AD 79 that destroyed their cities, their lives over in an instant.

My favourite object, at the moment – because it does change from moment to moment – is a marble plaque from Herculaneum. It was set up between two houses and on one side it reads: ‘this is the property of Marcus Nonius Dama, private and in perpetuity’. And on the other side it reads, ‘this is the wall of Julia, private and in perpetuity’.

Marcus and Julia were ex-slaves, and they were living next door to each other. They must have had some sort of dispute about the boundary between their houses and this plaque was set up to resolve it. The extraordinarily human stories like this one are what I love most in the exhibition: to know people’s names, know who they were living next door to, and how they might have lived.

Seeing the trucks full of objects arriving from Italy really took our breath away. To then see them emerge from their crates to become part of a design that we’d only ever seen on paper has been the most special experience.

Over the 15 months I’ve been working on the exhibition, it has been a privilege to share the process of staging an exhibition with the curator Paul Roberts and the many fantastic people in the Museum who’ve worked alongside us. To go from object research and selection to their arrival and installation has been a whirlwind that I’ll never forget.

And now we get to share the stories, the objects and the people of Pompeii and Herculaneum with everyone.

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I was at the Weds night preview, and feel honoured to have heard Paul Roberts’ talk about the show. I loved the paintings- can you explain how they survived the burning temperatures when the pigments and egg binder must be vulnerable to charring?

When the pigments and the binder are mixed together to make the paint a chemical reaction occurs that bonds them, so the parts are not individually affected during the eruption. The only pigment that is affected by the high temperatures is yellow ochre, which turns to red above 300 degrees Celsius. Scorch marks are sometimes visible on the walls of the cities where fire has directly touched them, but otherwise the frescoes are miraculously unaffected.

it’s a very interesting exhibition. It’s so impressive to see the artefacts from pompeii, which give such a vivid impression of the life in pompei and herculaneum as example for the life in ancient rome in general.

I am so looking forward to visiting this Exhibition; I have a fascination for Roman history, both Republic and Empire, but it’s the lives of the ordinary people, not the lawmakers and generals that draw me closest. Women like me, wives and mothers, just living their lives as best they can. Yes, Pompeii and Herculaneum are ancient huge tragedies, but they are also tale after tale of small lives, interrupted.

I was so keen to see it that I bought an annual membership on the day. About £50 for one person, and another £25 for a guest ticket. And then you can walk to the front of the queue and go in. Money well spent.

Each day, 500 tickets for that day will be available to purchase at the Ticket Desk in the Great Court. They are likely to sell out quickly so do come early to avoid disappointment. You may also need to wait between your ticket purchase and your timed exhibition entry. More information about tickets here

Pauline, I went yesterday in the hope of getting tickets on the day. joined the queue at 9.30am and got tickets for 10.10am. 500 tickets are released on a daily basis, but the earlier you get to the museum the better chance you have of getting them. The exhibition was superb! Do not miss it!

I went on Easter Monday when it was very full indeed, made worse by the fact that a number of people had been allowed in with very large rucksacks, when they turned round they could not see how many people they hurt with their luggage. I do think staff might be told not to allow people with very large rucksacks into the exhibition.
I went again a couple of days later when it was less full, and really enjoyed the exhibition.

Visited the exhibition today – it’s fabulous…and at the end, heartbreaking. Watch out for the most wonderful colander ever – a work of beauty and proudly marked by the maker. And the magnificent sea life mosaic.

I drove my daughter mad by saying, “Incredible” every few moments, but the entire exhibition was just that. I also loved the colander, but it was the food that brought a lump to my throat – evidence of meals prepared for but never eaten. And that bread!!! I saw the Pompeii exhibition in the 1970s, but don’t remember the human element coming through as strongly.
My thanks and admiration go to all involved in bringing this exhibition to London.

One question: I understand HOW the plaster casts were made, but how did the archaeologists know where the ‘voids’ were?

Quite simply, they didn’t! Locating the voids was a matter of chance; the archaeologists would just come across the holes when they were excavating. They would not have known exactly what they were going to uncover until they had excavated around the hardened plaster form.

Thank you for your reply, I have always wondered how they knew a hole was worth filling with plaster (or resin); presumably the ash was so fine that there would be no other reason for a hole to be left?

We visited today (April 19) and it’s brilliant. We saw Pompeii and Herculaneum a few years ago but the museum in Naples was closed on the day we went there, so this exhibition made up for that in part. However the exhibition stands alone as a superb piece of storytelling. Now we want to return to Italy to see them again. This could have been an expensive day!

Congratulations to the British Museum for this stupendous exhibition. Bringing these two tragic towns back to life in the form of the wonderfully exhibited items is a tribute to the many unfortunate people who died in such a horrific way. Highly recommended, and not to be missed.I may be tempted to make a second visit!

Do I gather that the exhibition is in the reading room? I am hoping to bring a small group but one lady is quite infirm and is worried about how much walking there will be. I have assured her you have portable stools and wheelchair available – would it be necessary to book a wheelchair?

I am so looking forward to visiting the exhibition.
Right now I should be prepping an answer on the Aeneid for my Classics exam. I’m a mature student – supposedly! I’ve booked the trip to London to mark the end of my undergraduate days. Funds are tight, so this is the closest I’ll get to Pompeii and Herculaneum for a while.
I’m visiting the day that I fly back to Ireland. Hope my suitcase will be acceptable at the cloakroom!

Having been fortunate to visit both Pompeii and Herculaneum twice in fifty years it was great to view the beautiful exhibits and intersting displays of the exhibition. But my wife and I and a number of our mature friends with us were frustrated by the small size, small print and very low and back-breaking positioning of the exhibit lables. Not only did we have to bend down closely and repeatedly but positioned as they are they were often obscured by other people. Surely exhibition designers must take into conderation the older age and physical infirmites (aching backs and poor eyesight) of many of those attending and should “trial” layouts etc. beforehand

We had to give up our tickets for the exhibition next Tuesday, because of family commitments, but it persuaded us to become “Friends” of the Museum, which will give us the opportunity to visit on more than one occasion. I am so looking forward to it, after seeing Pompeii and Herculaneum during our holiday in Italy earlier this year.

Have visited exhibition today and was fascinated. Amazing exhibits & excellent commentary but why,oh why are the labels so small & so low down? Just two people can read them at a time by bending down. Surely they could be larger or you could supply copies in each room to be read & returned. ( I saw 2 large print books at the entrance but did not feel I could take one in case they were needed by someone with limited sight.)